Category Archives: Uncategorized

I think that old things, in general, are time machines. Especially if you can handle them, pick them up. Things that have been used by successive generations down the years are especially powerful. Heirlooms, we call them, but they don’t … Continue reading →

Because I write mainly children’s fiction, I think a lot about the child’s view of history. How to give children a sense of the past. Not facts, not dates, but feeling, a sense that the people who lived in this … Continue reading →

  I grew up in Chelsea, one of Melbourne’s bayside suburbs. Our back gate opened onto the beach and I spent a lot of time there, beachcombing. I learned early to look down. Looking down and finding things to pick … Continue reading →

We’ve had exquisite birdsong – liquid, melodious, varied –   around our place for the past two or three weeks because a pair of Grey Shrike-Thrushes have taken up residence in our street. They swoop between gardens, but are especially … Continue reading →

We were at Southern Cross station after dinner in town, so with a bit of time to spare we went in to the WHSmith bookshop there. Lots of best-sellers on the shelves, but I’ve got enough to read at the … Continue reading →

This was another score from The Book Grocer. Also $6.00. Like Holloway, it’s a hard cover,  high quality publication from an English imprint (Weidenfeld and Nicholson) – and also right up my alley. While the sub-title does give the reader … Continue reading →

I bought this beautiful book at The Book Grocer for $6.00 (!!!!) It’s a Faber and Faber hard-cover, with a lovely stiff paper dust jacket, illustrated end-papers and black and white illustrations by Stanley Donwood and beautiful text – prose … Continue reading →

I have had an excellent weekend. A really, really excellent weekend. Perhaps it was the sunshine. The birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees are all singing as one with The Beatles – ‘Here comes the sun…’ … Continue reading →

I’ve just finished Karen Joy Fowler’s Booker short-listed We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, and from the outset I knew. It was right there on the cover. “One of the best twists in years.” So what is this twist? I … Continue reading →

  I was recently asked to help judge a fiction prize at the junior campus of my local high school. Sixteen students from years 7, 8 and 9 submitted pieces ranging from half to eleven pages. The winner and runner-up … Continue reading →